Posts Tagged ‘Honda’

Global Time Attack's annual Super Lap Battle event at Buttonwillow Raceway is one of our favorite events to attend and shoot every year. GTA's Time Attack Finals always brings out the top tier time attack competitors in North America. Some times, cars are even shipped over from overseas just for this epic event, which is covered by all the top automotive media outlets online and in print. Since our friends at Super Street Magazine will be printing the actual results and complete coverage of this year's GTA Finals in their next issue, we decided that we'd bypass the reporting of all the hard numbers and just post some of our photos of the event, as a teaser to their full report. Read more...

Every year, one of my favorite events to attend in Southern California is the annual Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach. JCCS is like a big reunion of old school friends, surrounded by the finest pre-1990s vehicles made in Japan. The water surrounding the iconic Queen Mary cruise ship and the Downtown Long Beach skyline is a perfect backdrop for Skylines, 510s, Zs, Celicas, Corollas, Starlets, Land Cruisers, RX7s, RX3s, Civics and all sorts of other interesting Japanese old school cars! Read more...

The greatest endurance race of them all is held in the French town of LeMans at Circuit de la Sarthe--a combination of public roads. Known commonly as the 24 Hours of LeMans, since 1923, the racing world has turned its eyes to the little town in the French countryside in a true test of superior driving, engineering and efficiency. To win this 24 hour test of man and machine has been on the bucket list of every manufacturer and every person to turn a wheel in anger. Read more...

Can you guess what kind of car this is? If Mad Max drove a vintage Honda in a time attack series, is this what you would imagine his car to look like?

We were carspotting at the most recent Speed Ventures event at Streets of Willow, and saw this old school Honda with monstrous box flares, front lip spoiler and a huge front bumper. Let’s not forget the big wing up top, and the center mounted driver seat and steering wheel! (more…)

This weekend's inaugural Speed&Stance meet was crazy!!! I can't believe so many people turned up to the event, because we organized and promoted the entire thing in only five days. FIVE DAYS! Thanks to our friends at Speed Ventures, we were able to throw this gigantic car event in the parking lot of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana!

We advertised the meet to run between 12 noon and 5pm, but every single one of the infield parking lots at the speedway were FULL by 2:45pm! There was a crazy line of cars backed up from the infield parking, through the tunnel, wrapping all the way around to the Cherry Avenue entrance! I was told that once the parking lots allocated to the event hit capacity, the people at the gates had to turn away well over 100 cars! Insane.

Since traffic and road congestion became an issue, the good folks from Auto Club Speedway quickly opened up a couple more parking lots so that cars could pre-stage before rolling in to the actual show area, which saw both autocross and high speed road racing with Speed Ventures on the ROVAL course, and a beginner level car control clinic for Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ owners called the 86 Dynamic Driving Academy. Read more...

Endurance racing has always been about how hard and how long you can go. For almost a century, legendary races like Le Mans, Sebring, and Daytona have made history as a proving ground for men and their machines. The Streets of Long Beach circuit brought a similar challenge to the cars and stars of the American LeMans Series (ALMS) on Saturday Afternoon.

In just two hours, 157 miles would be traveled and 36.329 seconds would separate an endurance racing champion from a former Formula One star - and with the win, produce the winning-est driver in American LeMans series history - a man who only turned a wheel for 25 minutes. Read more...

Happy Birthday, Ayrton Senna! If he were still alive, Ayrton Senna da Silva, who many consider to be the greatest driver in the history of racing, would be 53 years old. In honor of our favorite Brazilian driver’s birthday, we’ve compiled a great collection of Senna videos for you to watch… (more…)

This past weekend, I was given the opportunity to join my friends from Raceline USA and JDM Zipties at the series opener of the Honda Tuning Cup Challenge at Buttonwillow Raceway. There are three announced HT Cup Challenge events for the 2013 calendar so far - Buttonwillow, Chuckwalla Raceway, and Streets of Willow.

Raceline also added a new component to the trackdays they organize - a challenge series for the new 86 Platform,"Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ. Even though it is called the 86 Challenge (coincidentally the same name as the previously announced 86 Challenge from Speedventures), the series is tailored towards Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ drivers, not AE86 owners. Read more...

If you saw our previously published story on the R's Tuning Ben Sopra GTR from the Fast & Furious 6 movie, then you already know we were out at Buttonwillow Raceway this past weekend for the Global Time Attack Pro Am with Shift S3ctor. The event wasn't intended to be one of the larger GTA events; it was planned as a Pro/Amateur track day for the guys to shake down their cars at Buttonwillow. The types of cars at the event varied pretty wildly, from expensively modified AMG Benzes to homegrown builds, like Honda Civics and Mazda RX7s. Read more...

This past weekend, there were tons of automotive events happening, so those of us located in Southern California faced a dilemma - should we go to Nisei Showoff or Infamous?!

The tried and true Import Showoff event thrown by legendary import carshow promoter Ken Miyoshi during Downtown LA's annual Nisei Week Festival in Little Tokyo is always a good time. Everyone knows that Nisei Showoff symbolizes the best of the best - the highest standard in modified import cars, with attendance by the OG crews that used to run the streets of Los Angeles when the sport compact scene was just beginning to blow up. The whole vibe at Nisei Showoff feels a bit nostalgic, to be honest. Can it be that it was all so simple then? Good cars and good friends in a relaxed atmosphere, surrounded by good Japanese restaurants and boutique shops in Little Tokyo.

However, some young car enthusiasts don't care about memory lane nostalgia or waxing poetic about the good old days. For this rapidly growing new generation of frame-scraping tire stretchers, the newly conceptualized Infamous show was thrown as a collaboration between the Fatlace and Canibeat Crews at the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

It's obvious that MotorMavens connects to both scenes and both types of automotive taste, so those who follow @MOTORMAVENS on Instagram and Twitter already know that we decided to hit both shows. Here's a quick gallery of images from both events! Read more...

This weekend's Autocon event at Santa Anita Racetrack was hot. Super hot. There were lots of other car events happening in other parts of the west coast, but it seemed as if most people naturally just flocked to Autocon, because it's a new event series that's gaining some good momentum. It was initially started as a smaller car gathering in Southern Cali's City of Industry, but it has seen quite a bit of growth recently. I even saw some of the core team from the old Hot Import Nights (the crew that was behind HIN when it was strongest) and Global Time Attack behind the scenes this weekend.

I've been traveling out of state for the past few weeks, but I decided to fly back to Los Angeles for this weekend's event - it was the perfect chance to enjoy summertime in Southern Cali, spend time with good friends, and finally check out Autocon in person. Read more...

Long Beach is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues for automotive events. This weekend, our friends from Weksos Industries made the trek down to Los Angeles to hold yet another Wekfest event in Southern Cali. Even though the event is pronounced "weak-fest" and their company name is pronounced "weak sauce," the turnout was anything but weak. Lowlife car owners from all over California and Nevada scraped their oilpans all the way to the Queen Mary to show off their first class wheel fitment. Read more...

Nearly two weeks ago, some of you saw a portion of the 1.968-mile temporary street course in Long Beach, CA when Formula DRIFT slid into town. Just this past weekend, fans were treated to the full street course with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. During the three-day event, fans were able to see a variety of races - IndyCar, Firestone Indy Lights, American Le Mans Series, Pirelli World Cup, and the infamous Formula DRIFT team competition. Local Long Beach drifter Kyle Mohan and 2011 Rookie of the Year Aurimas "Odi" Bakchis won the team DRIFT competition. Read more...

Sometimes you run into modified cars at times that you might not expect... Not too long ago, I went to a friend's house so we could roll together to a car event. Right as I pulled up onto his street, I noticed this bright red Honda S2000 parked in the alley behind his house. It was super clean, with only one sticker on the entire car - a red and white MotorMavens "M" sticker on the lower corner of the windshield. Wow, how awesome... I hadn't even seen the car before, or met the owner of the car, and it was already rocking our sticker!

Just a few minutes later, my friend Terry Pham from Infinit Wheels introduced me Anthony Juarez, the owner of the car. Anthony told me that he bought the car pretty recently from a guy in Las Vegas, and brought it all the way home to Southern California. Since I already had my camera with me anyway, I just had to grab some photos! Read more...

“Honda is really all about the engine.” Any real racing enthusiast will be aroused by the sound of a real race car. Listen to the awesome sound of this vintage Honda RA272 Grand Prix car as Dario Franchitti takes the famous – and immaculately kept – Mexico Grand Prix winning car out for a spin. This 1.5-liter V12, 230 horsepower vintage GP racer is the very same car that scored Honda its very first Grand Prix win at the 1965 Mexico Grand Prix, a race won by Richie Ginther.

When Franchitti described his experience with the car, he said the sound of the engine, its precise gearbox, and its unique handling made him think the car was very similar to a motorcycle! (more…)

When it comes to car shows, judging criteria is usually based on how the car looks or what kinds of modifications it has. Having attended tons of the same old car shows, our good friend Tony Lee from ItsJDMYo had an idea to make a different type of contest within the car scene.

While driving up or down a driveway may seem like a mundane everyday task for most, it obviously requires a certain amount of technique when you have a lowered car. Tony took that idea and decided to make it into a different form of driving competition, with the help of certain friends. Our own Editor-in-ChiefAntonio was selected to be the emcee of the event, while judging duties were handled by Yogi from Fatlace, Noel from Canibeat, and ItsJDMYo's own Keychain. Read more...

Some people get into motorsports because they think that modifying their cars with aftermarket parts will allow them to drive faster. Others prefer to invest their time and money into seat time, realizing that any car can only be driven as fast as the skill level of the driver permits. These people realize that training and practice are thereal keys to winning races - not adding more horsepower or braking to a vehicle.

Enter the B-Spec Series, an SCCA sanctioned racing class that was created for compact street-stock cars that racers could drive to and from the racetrack if they wanted. The idea was to create something similar to the SCCA Spec Miata class, with rules against hardcore modifications to equalize the playing field for the vehicles. In B-Spec competition, the ability to win races really boils down to the driver's skill and preparation.

When our friends at Mazdaspeed and Honda Performance Development invited us to attend a private track testing of their B-Spec Mazdaspeed 2 and an HPD-prepared Honda Fit, we just couldn't pass up the offer! Read more...

Fall is arguably one of the most beautiful times of the year in Washington - aside from the rain that is. The normally muted palette caused by an overcast sky suddenly comes to life with bright orange, red and yellow leaves amidst the evergreens that stand fully dressed all year. It's in times like these that the Seattle car community shines; auto enthusiasts like Karim Kerawala keep their rides looking fresh all year round. Where the question of, “Is this your daily driver?”, is met with a slight smirk, because this Montego Blue 1997 Mazda Miata is, in fact, Karim’s daily driver and any other suggestion would be more than absurd - there's no other way to roll. Read more...

Another tragedy hit the racing world as Italian Moto GP rider Marco Simoncelli lost his life in today’s Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. Simoncelli, who rode for San Carlo Honda Gresini, was sent to the medical center at the Sepang circuit for treatment, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. (more…)

Ever say to yourself, "Damn, that dude with the Bugatti Veyron must get all the women"? Well, I have - and it was more than enough incentive for me to desperately wish I owned one of these engineering marvels...but, the cost of ownership for this 253 mph speed machine is a bit different from owning a 1992 Honda Civic. So, if you're actually in the market for a brand new Bugatti Veyron, read this before you sign that massive check over to Bugatti. And, if you're reading this and you actually own a Veyron, I'll take a moment to ask you to please be my bestest friend. Read more...

As some of you may (or may not) know, I'm definitely not from California. So when I found out that I would be going to California for a week, I knew that I'd have to check out as much stuff as I could possibly get around to checking out while I was there. Usually, when I go somewhere in the name of drift events, I don't really get to act like a tourist very much since the team is always busy taking care of race car stuff - but there was no race car stuff this time so I knew this was going to be my best chance to really see some cool stuff.

Once I got into town, my buddy Nick Soo suggested that we check out the Rucksters Customs garage. My experience with Honda Ruckus scooters was fairly limited, to say the least. I had seen a dude cruising on a fairly unmodified one at Drift Mania, and then this year at Formula Drift in Florida, I saw a stretched out Ruckus for the first time cruising around the paddock area. I was definitely intrigued but I was unable to get a really good look at the machine.

As soon as we pulled up to the Rucksters shop, it was clear we were at the right place. I figure that when your front door is this legit, you must have some awesome stuff behind it. We were greeted by shop manager Hai who was hanging out at the front counter, and he was more than happy to show us around the place and really school us on some crazy Ruckus knowledge.
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In the tuner world, the AE86 platform should be considered one of the most important and influential gems that has come from Japanese engineering and research. Even with today's sophisticated technology being used to develop high-performance machines with more than twice the power of a Hachi-Roku, it's hard to forget what this amazing little car did for the general public. Despite the fact that the machine didn't have some of the better features and strengths of some of the other cars its age and younger, it had one great sense of appeal to it: the price.

The common man didn't have to settle with just dreaming about the AE86 and gazing over pictures of its bodywork in magazines. No, instead, the common man could actually get behind the wheel of one since a new, fully-loaded CorollaGT-S would cost on average $12,000 at the time. And though AE86 became the last generation of the affordable front-engine, rear-wheel-drive compact from Toyota (until the FR-S/FT-86, we hope), it is still remembered, still used and still loved by the common man. And that love is why the Bay Area joins together each year to celebrate this iconic vehicle. I give you The Bay Area 8-6 Day meet! Read more...

While my colleagues were in the Pacific Northwest shooting Formula D, I decided to take a road trip to Monterey, CA to shoot the world famous MotoGP.

For those unfamiliar with MotoGP, it is the two-wheel equivalent of Formula One. It is an 18-race series visiting 14 countries (with only two stops in the U.S.). Now in its 63rd year, it is the oldest motorsports championship in the world. The world’s best riders pilot machinery that have been crafted with the keenest of cutting-edge technology - technology which has largely benefited from the R&D budgets of four manufacturers: Yamaha, Ducati, Honda, & Suzuki.

For the purposes of competing in MotoGP's premier class, the manufacturers are held within these general parameters: the engines must be 800 cc, four-stroke engines and the motorcycles competing must be prototypes. As you might imagine, first-rate drivers plus high-end, super machines equate to one HELL of a ride! Read more...

Over a year ago, when you heard the phrase 'It's JDM Yo!' you would just think of a bunch of Japanese cars with parts from Japan following a trend. Now, as soon as you hear it, the first thing that comes to mind are the hot models and Tony 'It's JDM Yo' Lee with his posse at every major car show representing. The meet turned out more like a car show but with free entrance and in and out privileges for both people and cars. With vendors, food trucks, free NOS Energy Drinks to quench your thirst, and lots of eye candy the day went by without a hitch. A raffle, emceed by Tony and Miss Natalia Marie from NOS, was held and proceeds went to help fund Big Abe's daughter Sophie's funeral cost (if you don't know who Big Abe is, he's the guy with the big ass rim hanging from his neck). I have to give a big shout out to Big Abe for showing up to the meet after going through what he and his family had to endure. Read more...